Citation and License

Genome Biology 2013, 14:R75
doi:10.1186/gb-2013-14-7-r75

Published: 26 July 2013

Abstract

Background

Previous studies have demonstrated that gene expression levels change with age. These
changes are hypothesized to influence the aging rate of an individual. We analyzed
gene expression changes with age in abdominal skin, subcutaneous adipose tissue and
lymphoblastoid cell lines in 856 female twins in the age range of 39-85 years. Additionally,
we investigated genotypic variants involved in genotype-by-age interactions to understand
how the genomic regulation of gene expression alters with age.

Results

Using a linear mixed model, differential expression with age was identified in 1,672
genes in skin and 188 genes in adipose tissue. Only two genes expressed in lymphoblastoid
cell lines showed significant changes with age. Genes significantly regulated by age
were compared with expression profiles in 10 brain regions from 100 postmortem brains
aged 16 to 83 years. We identified only one age-related gene common to the three tissues.
There were 12 genes that showed differential expression with age in both skin and
brain tissue and three common to adipose and brain tissues.

Conclusions

Skin showed the most age-related gene expression changes of all the tissues investigated,
with many of the genes being previously implicated in fatty acid metabolism, mitochondrial
activity, cancer and splicing. A significant proportion of age-related changes in
gene expression appear to be tissue-specific with only a few genes sharing an age
effect in expression across tissues. More research is needed to improve our understanding
of the genetic influences on aging and the relationship with age-related diseases.